NEWS - METROLOGY

Scientists used the LCLS at SLAC to uncover how light-driven reactions unfold in a photocatalyst. They observed in space and time how the photocatalyst's structure vibrated and rearranged, capturing the moment when part of it spun off and how atomic motions transitioned from coherent to more random.

A new approach allows researchers to catch a photocatalyst in action

Now, writing in the journal Nature Communications, a team led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory report how they used ultrafast X-rays from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), combined with recent theoretical advancements, to reveal those atomic motions on a timescale of femtoseconds, millionths of a billionth of a second. The technique could be used to observe speedy atomic motions in more complex catalysts.

Automated atomic-resolution imaging of core-shell nanoparticles showing low-magnification image with identified regions of interest and atomic-resolution inset of one region.

A new age of electron microscopy: Magnifying possibilities with automation

“We now have a way for people to interact with a detector on one side and a supercomputer on the other side with a simple webpage called Distiller in the middle,” said Peter Ercius, interim facility director of the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry. “We’re moving towards getting huge amounts of data processed in an automated way with minimal human intervention.”

Spaghetti-like filaments of plasma instability captured in new research.

Physicists capture elusive plasma instability in unprecedented detail

Plasma is a super-hot mixture of charged particles, such as ions and electrons, which can conduct electricity and are influenced by magne...

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have refined the high-resolution method of STED microscopy by using nanographenes. This makes longer observation times possible.

Prolonged super-microscopy: Nanographenes allow longer observation time

The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, including STED (Stimulated Emis

New method for improving nanoparticle size estimation

(a) Selected ground truth HAADF-STEM multislice image simulations. Scale bars are 1 nm. (b) Corresponding synthetic multislice images...

Molecular determinants of optical modulation in ssDNA-carbon nanotube biosensors

@ ACS Nano 2025, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.4c13814 Scrutinizing the underpinnings of optical modulation at the molecular...

Alternating triangular charge density wave domains observed within a layered superconducting compound

A research team consisting of NIMS and the Tokyo University of Science observed charge density waves (CDWs) within Niobium diselenide...

Attosecond core-level spectroscopy reveals real-time molecular dynamics

Chemical reactions are complex mechanisms. Many different dynamical processes are involved, affecting both the electrons and the nucleus...

Atomic nucleus excited with laser: a breakthrough after decades

The "thorium transition", which has been sought after for decades, has now been excited for the first time with lasers.

Nothing is everything: How hidden emptiness can define the usefulness of filtration materials

Voids, or empty spaces, exist within matter at all scales, from the astronomical to the microscopic. In a new study, researchers used...

Characterizing the excited states of individual atoms through the combination of tunneling microscopy and pulsed laser

The characterization of the dynamics of the excited states of a single atom localized on a surface remains to this day an experimental...

New AI model is a leap for autonomous materials science

Materials science enables cutting-edge technologies, from lightweight cars and powerful computers to high-capacity batteries and durable...

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